METRO NEWS BRIEFS: NEW YORK; Teacher Is Welcomed After Book Dispute

Parents and teachers at a Queens school welcomed a white teacher yesterday who transferred after her use of a book, ''Nappy Hair,'' at a Brooklyn school caused some parents to threaten her.

Last week, the teacher, Ruth A. Sherman, transferred to Public School 131 in Jamaica from P.S. 75 in Bushwick after some parents publicly threatened ''to get'' her, among other things, after she read the book to her class of mostly black and Hispanic students.

Some parents said the book, written by Carolivia Herron, a black author and scholar, offended them with its use of colloquialisms and cartoon-like illustrations. Ms. Sherman, 27, left P.S. 75 saying she feared for her safety. She will teach one of five second-grade classes at P.S. 131, where the student body is largely black and Hispanic, said Barbara Pollack, a second-grade teacher. Ms. Sherman

''I'm thrilled to have her,'' Ms. Pollack said yesterday morning. ''I think she'll be an asset. We're very multicultural.''

Marjorie Tate, who is black and has a son in the third grade, said she admired Ms. Sherman for using the book. ''I think it shows she's not prejudiced,'' Ms. Tate said.

Ms. Herron, an assistant professor of English at California State University at Chico, is to arrive today for a community forum at the House of the Lord Pentecostal Church in downtown Brooklyn to talk to parents who objected to the book.